Ksenija and Milica, from story and memory to song and film

The celebrated legend of love, the well-known verses about Milica, interpreted by the "nightingale of Ribnica" Ksenija Cicvarić, has also gained its cinematic dimension, after years and years of research... The premiere of the short documentary "Milica, at her mother's" opened the repertoire of the UnderhillFest International Documentary Film Festival on Sunday evening, in front of a large audience on the basketball court in Njegošev Park.

The well-known Podgorica sevdalinka is transformed into a cinematic journey through memory, oral tradition, and the search for the real woman behind the lyrics. The film is directed by Sead Šabotić It starts from a song made famous by Ksenija Cicvarić, which later became one of the most famous Podgorica, but also Montenegrin songs.

"Project author, prominent journalist Olivera Vukadinović tries to discover who the mysterious Milica was, while her life and identity are still hidden between two opposing stories. While the traces of an old Podgorica sevdalinka lead from Stara varos to Sarajevo, journalist Olivera Vukadinović tries to discover who the mysterious Milica was, a woman whose beauty inspired the song made famous by Ksenija Cicvarić, and whose life and identity are still hidden between two opposing stories today,” the film’s description stated earlier.

The film opened up that question, but also a series of conversations, interpretations, theories and ideas with numerous authentic and interesting stories, equally melancholic and interesting... However, in addition to all that, this short documentary will not bring a final and absolute answer to the question about Milica, but it will leave room for various memories, family stories and oral stories that have been passed down for decades among the people of Staro Podgorica. The audience closely followed the story of Milica, but not only about her, but the overall story about Titograd, the people of Titograd, love and emotions, families, time, society, but also lifestyle... Viewers witness Titograd before and after the war, and the archive footage evokes special feelings and insights. There are also the testimonies of interlocutors, memories, narrations, thoughts... At the same time, through all that, through the lyrics about Milica, the film is also the story of Ksenia Cicvarić, because, although they are shared by different eras, together they have become part of the collective memory, and it is Cicvarić who is responsible for the fact that the song about Milica became one of the most recognizable and particularly lyrical. In addition, the film also showed that old sevdalinka are not only perceived as songs, but as guardians of identity, memories and testimonies that still live among people. So the film "Milica, u majke", in addition to the search for a woman from a song or a people, reminds everyone of the value of local traditions and the need to preserve voices that connect with the past.

Vukadinović explained that the idea for the film came about more than ten years ago, when she first heard just one of the versions of the story about the protagonist of the folk song.

"The idea for this project was born a long time ago, I think it's been ten years since I first spoke with Senka Ulić from the film, who told that version of Milica, and later some other questions arose... I've worked on some other projects over the years, but I've always wanted to find out who that person was, whether she really existed and how that song, made up of just a few verses, which are in themselves cinematic, as Mr. Zekić said in the film, still tells us a story that we love even though it's more than a century old. After so many years since the idea came about, the film has now been realized and shown to the Podgorica audience," Vukadinović said after the premiere, in an interview with the Underhill spokesperson. Miroslav Miro Minić.

"Let this story continue and, who knows, maybe we'll discover something else, maybe this will encourage someone else to talk and discover some new things," said Vukadinović.

She pointed out that this may be the beginning of a female trilogy for which the producer Milena Charan insists on its implementation.

"Over that 20-year period, I recorded a number of different stories, including one about Sejdefa, after which numerous other stories opened up. I can say that we will probably continue with that idea," Vukadinović revealed.

She doesn't hide the fact that she is also interested in the story of young Jelka, also one of the protagonists of Ksenija Cicvarić's poems.

"Young Jelka kisses Janko... There is another story that is very interesting and that I also heard a long time ago from our interlocutor from the film. It is characteristic that she, now in her late nineties, but still in her youth, also heard about the third and fourth stories about the characters from the songs. However, they all promised never to say the names of the people, because in fact many songs, and the people of Starovarošan certainly know this, were written by ordinary people, and in order not to offend the families - they changed the name of the person in question," explained Vukadinović.

She revealed that it is almost certain that a trilogy will be created under the potential title "One Song, One Story". Thus, Vukadinović would continue researching the origins of the three most famous old Podgorica songs, and after "Milica, u majke", these would also be "Sejdefu majka buđaše" and "Mlada Jelka ljubi Janka"...

"It would be a nice trilogy about our cultural heritage heroines, whom we all know, talk about, and sing about, so it would be nice to give them a new framework like this," said Vukadinović.

She expressed her gratitude to everyone who followed this film story about Milica, with special thanks to the team members, the audience, and the organizers of UnderhillFest, which has been opening its doors to good film stories and quality conversations for 17 years.

In addition to the award-winning retired journalist of the Radio and Television of Montenegro, Vukadinović, and the Montenegrin director Šabotić, the rest of the team is completed by the producer Milena Charan, Nemanja Becanovic who signs assembly, as well as the director of photography Ivan Cojbasic. The film was produced by "Thaurus", with the support of the Film Center of Montenegro, the Tourist Organization of Podgorica and Radio Television of Montenegro.

Charan said she was glad the film had its world premiere in the right place, as it is a local story, and there is no better place than Underhill. She said she strongly supports the continuation of this research and an all-female film project, a trilogy in the making.

Director Sead Šabotić did not attend the premiere, nor the gift after the premiere, but he sent a video message from Brussels. He emphasizes that he is grateful for the nice comments and positive reactions, to UnderhillFest, the film crew, but also to the Bracović family - relatives of Ksenija Cicvarić, who attended the screening.

"What is very important is that this film started the story of Ksenija Cicvarić, of Milica and her endless beauty. I hope that there will finally be an audience to preserve the so-called Podgorica sevdalinka, because Podgorica, Nikšić, as well as all other cities in Montenegro have something to offer, and that should be preserved, because Montenegro is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for many things, including this film," said Šabotić.

He invited everyone who has not seen the film at Underhill to do so during the upcoming screenings expected at upcoming festivals, and he also revealed that the film will soon be shown on Television of Montenegro.